Running in Gainesville Florida

I was recently in Gainesville, Florida and I wanted to take a morning run before the heat really kicked in. I fired up the Map My Run and Great Runs websites. While I was intrigued with the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, I figured that it would bother me if I did only a portion of the 17 mile trail. I am that kind of person.

A friend once told me that he loves running the Ben Griffin Stadium Steps so off we went to run the steps at the 90,000 seat stadium most affectionally known as the Swamp. If you interested the Swamp is open to the public from sunrise to 10:00 pm. Just so you know, it is 180 steps to the top for the first leg. If you do the entire stadium it is 1,980 steps which equates to 110 flights of stairs. A whole bunch!!

For my trip, I rant 1.78 miles plus a bunch of steps there. It was an incredible workout with my heart pounding up each step and feeling the slight burn on the way down. A point of curtesy, if you are coming down the stairs and another person is coming up, the person coming up has the right of way. I almost made that mistake and got an earful.

A great way to start the day but it was incredibly exhausting!